Biden Signs $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill into Law
President Joe Biden signed into law a $1 trillion infrastructure bill at a White House ceremony on Monday that drew Democrats and Republicans who pushed the legislation through a deeply divided U.S. Congress.The measure is designed to create jobs across the country by dispersing billions of dollars to state and local governments to fix crumbling bridges and roads, and expanding broadband internet access to millions of Americans.The bill-signing ceremony, held in chilly weather on the White House South Lawn to accommodate a big crowd…
U.S. Senate Moves To Debate Energy Savings Bill; Keystone Bid Stalls
The U.S. Senate agreed on Tuesday to advance a bipartisan energy efficiency bill, but it could die unless lawmakers end a stalemate on how to proceed with the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline project. The Senate voted 79-20 to move toward a debate on the energy bill, making it the first big energy legislation to reach the Senate floor since 2007. Sponsored by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, the White House-backed bill would save energy through tougher building codes and by making the federal governmentinstall new technologies. Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat…
Senators Seek Funding for Great Lakes Maintenance
A bipartisan group of Great Lakes senators, led by Great Lakes Task Force co-chairs Sen. Carl Levin and Sen. Mark Kirk, wrote today to Army Corps of Engineers leaders, urging them to direct additional funding for harbor maintenance projects to reduce the backlog of projects in the Great Lakes. The letter, from members of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy and Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, asks that…
Ohio Senator Co-sponsors Harbor Maintenance Act
U.S. Senator Rob Portman supports legislation to help ensure funds for harbor maintenance etc. are used as intended. The Senator co-sponsored the Harbor Maintenance Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Carl Levin (D-MI) to help ensure that funds collected for maintaining and operating federal ports, harbors, and channels are fully used for their intended purposes. “Ohio’s many ports and harbors, including those in Cleveland, Toledo, and across the Great Lakes, are critical to ensuring robust commerce,” said Portman. “We commend Senator Portman and his co-sponsors, and urge their colleagues to support this bill to help continue our nation’s economic recovery,” said William D. Friedman, President and CEO of the Port of Cleveland.
Senate Members Petition USACE for Great Lakes Dredging Relief
Seasonal Decline in Water Levels Means Great Lakes Dredging Crisis Will Only Worsen. The water levels on the Great Lakes have begun their seasonal decline, so the impacts of the dredging crisis will become even more pronounced in the fourth quarter. Even before the Lakes began their dip, the largest ships were forfeiting more than 6,200 tons of cargo each trip. Each inch that the Lakes decline in the weeks and months ahead will slash another 50 to 270 tons from the already deflated totals. Funding for dredging the Great Lakes has been inadequate for decades.
